Off Nights
by gyuumajo
Summary: [Response to Kuroi Neko-kun's challenge] A night getaway turned 'interesting'


This lil piece is written in response to Kuroi Neko-kun's CSI fanfic challenge (y'know, the one with lots of rules)—because she asked oh so nicely. 

**Her exact words:**

To anyone who's interested:  
Write a CSI/CSI Miami fic that involves UNLIKELY pairings.  
Here are the rules:  
1.      It MUST be slash. [Gentle or not, it's up to you]

2.      At least two chapters long. One-shots have to be long.  
3.      Nobody can be out of character.  
4.      They can't meet out-of-the-blue

         eg: Nick bumps into Eric during a vacation at Miami.  
5.      Transfers cannot be w/o proper reasons 

         eg: Horatio decides to transfer Speed to Las Vegas because he feels like it  
6.      There is no number 6.  
7.      No one can be related to each other. [So no formal introductions]

8.      Try to keep it PG-13  
9.      No one is allowed to eat each other's socks  
10.    It must be posted with 'Kuroi Neko-kun's challenge' in the summary.

I will be attempting to do the impossible. ^_^ Cheer me on!

* * *

Los Angeles, CA         6pm 

"WHAT?!?!?!" two distinct male voices resounded throughout the lobby. The ding of the elevator went ignored in the background as every pair of eyes turned towards the shouters at the counter. 

"Calm down sirs…" the receptionist started timidly, shifting her gaze from one man to the other. "My manager thought that since we are over-booked, and you two are staying for the same period of time, we could let you bunk in together." The younger one looked annoyingly at her.

"I spent hours on a crummy car, expecting to get my own personal room and here you tell me I have to share?! Is this a friggin' YMCA?!?!" she literally shrank under his bombardment of fury. The other man looked at her sheepishly and pulled the raging lunatic back a few paces.

"Hey, you think you're worse off. I spent hours on a crummy plane, battling jetlag, hunger and lack of caffeine. Do you see me complaining?" he chided softly. The spiky haired one sighed.

"You're right…" he turned to the receptionist. "I'm sorry. Book us in." 

The receptionist mouthed a 'thank you' to the other man before proceeding with what she was paid to do.

~

"Our room~!!!!" The slender man dumped his duffel bag onto the dirty pink carpet and greeted his bed with a mega bear hug. The other one eyed him oddly. After nuzzling his pillow for a moment, he jumped off the now-crumpled sheets and took his bag from the guy sharing his room.

"Well, since we're gonna be roommates for awhile… I'm Greg Sanders," he stuck out a hand. The other man looked at it as if considering the pros and cons before shaking it. 

"I'm Tim Speedle,"

"Where're you from? I can't quite place your accent…" the lab tech asked while stuffing his bag into the closet. "It sounds a lil east coast but can't be too sure. You don't look too Caucasian either."

"Mix heritage," Speed answered matter-of-factly. "I was from NY before moving to Miami. Long story." He shot Greg a warning glare, which Greg returned with a raised eyebrow.

"We all got skeletons in our closets I guess," 

Speedle flopped onto the other bed in bliss. "You know what would make this moment perfect?"

"Yeah?"

"Room service. I'm famished!!"

"I have a better idea. My friend, or rather, supervisor Cath knew this great place across the street from here. You wanna try that out?"

"Anything's good to go! Right now, I could finish off a horse in five seconds," Speedle grinned as he pocketed his wallet into the back pocket.

~

The small restaurant was indeed a great recommendation. Upon entering the place, the smell of home-cooked food assaulted their noses, sending a fresh wave of hunger pangs. They found a booth overlooking the busy LA streets, complete with warm yellow lighting bathing the room and illuminating the well-used hard wood furniture. A pretty Hispanic waltzed up to them, pen and notepad poised.

"House special and whiskey and soda please," Speedle ordered while Greg read off her nametag.

"Hi Jessica, I would like a no. 6 on your menu,"

"There is no number 6," she replied flatly. "There's a number 5, there's a number 7 but there's no number 6. It's just the way things work around here."

"Is that so? Well, before I make a fool out of myself again, what other numbers you don't have?"

"I hope you're not playing me. What would you like?" Speedle stifled a smirk as the younger man frowning in confusion made up his mind.

"I'll have the house special. Surprise me,"

"Okay! Two house specials and one whiskey and soda," she turned sharply and strode back to the kitchen.

"That was weird. No number 6 on the menu…" Greg muttered under his breath but the words were not lost on Speedle. 

"Hey, if it's any consolation to you, that waitress told me not to eat anyone's socks the last time I was here,"

"Socks?? Woah, wait a minute. You were here before? Why didn't you say anything?!" Greg mock pouted, which the other man replied with a bemused smile.

"I didn't think it was the same restaurant! And besides, no one asked so I didn't say," he shrugged. "While we wait for our food, I want some answers. You know where I'm from so where are you from and what are you doing here?"

"San Gabriel… now in Las Vegas and I'm here for the DJ spin-off," a proud grin graced his lips. "I'm the LV champ!"

"Is that so?!" Speed remarked.

"What? You don't believe me??" the younger man challenged.

"No, no… I'm the Miami winner. Guess we'll be enemies after this dinner,"

"You spin too?! Wow… I can't believe how much we have in common," …And an idea struck Greg. "Just out of curiosity here, what are you working as?"

"I'm a CSI… if you know what that is,"

"Are you kidding me!? I'm training to be one right now!!" Speedle frowned and suddenly beamed as he remembered a very important fact.

"Your supervisor, Cath… she wouldn't be Catherine Willows is she?"

"Yeah, that's her! How didja know?!"

"She was over Miami once and man, did she leave an impression. She's a remarkable lady…and a CSI," 

"She is," 

Jessica chose that exact moment to appear with their food.

"Enjoy your dinner," Without meeting either one's eye, she placed the food before them and left. Both attacked their food like a pair of starving hyenas, enjoying each other's company before the big showdown.

~~~ [Interlude] ~~~

Restaurant                  7.48pm 

"Houston, we have a problem…"

"What?" Jessica peeked into the kitchen. "What is it Ther?" 

A petite girl grinned sheepishly back at her. "I think I accidentally used my love-potion-in-salt-form instead of sodium chloride in the house special…"

"Girl, how could you do that? Didn't I tell ya to leave those out of my kitchen? The last time something like this happened four girls end up married! To each other!!" She was faced with an apologetic smile instead. "Oh never mind… when'll the effects kick in?"

"In a few hours I guess," Jessica sighed.

"You better hope it wouldn't turn out to be a huge trouble. I ain't gonna save your lily ass this time,"

"Aww… I know you will even if you say you don't," Silly grins all over. ^_^

~~~

Downtown LA              9pm 

The full blast of bass thudding against the enclosed walls thundered against their eardrums the moment they pulled open the heavy doors. The sea of people stood between them and the stage, making it progressively harder for our 'heroes' to get backstage. The rules were simple, spin with the gears and vinyl provided. No custom equipments were allowed.

"Are you ready LA??" the emcee of the night shouted into the mike, trying to get his voice over the din courtesy of the growing crowd. The said crowd yelled in agreement. "I know you guys have traveled long and hard but let me tell ya, tonight's competition would be phenomenal! Let's get the main event going!!!" Collective whistling & cheering ensued.  

~

Backstage, the heat was getting unbearable but their turns would not be up for another couple more sets. After a few rounds of booze guzzling, smoke puffing and poker playing, Speed decided to get some fresh air. Luckily for him, there was a hidden exit that no one else took note of. He slipped quietly past the other contestants and explored the world beyond. To his credit, Greg found the same hidden exit.

"Hey," he watched in amusement as the other man jumped.

"Hey…And don't scare people like that!" 

It might be the spring breeze or it might be the beer, Speed's cheeks seemed unusually flushed. "I just had the strangest thought,"

"What?"

"Maybe we should ditch that competition & just stay out here," he turned towards Greg. With a swift movement of his wrist, he rested his palm on the shorter man's cheeks, tilting those inviting lips skywards. He leaned in slowly, feeling Greg's hot breath upon his neck, elevating his heart rate to near-impossible levels. He tensed as a pair of trained hands traveled up his back longingly, pulling him closer. 

There, under the cover of a million stars, they had their first chaste kiss.

…End…

* * *

Resources/Info:

CBS official CSI & CSI: Miami site

TvTome

Woohoo! My first over-1000-word fic in a long long long time! Pardon the lack of creativity, confusing layout & sucky slash… I'm **not** a very big/good/avid slash writer. And I'm still trying to get my writing skills back on the right track. It totally left me for almost a year now. *sob* As for the interlude, I couldn't resist! I need some credible reason for those two to be in love with each other so—tada! Hope that worked to my advantage.

Now that I re-read this with a clear mind & open eyes, I found that I'm not particularly proud of it coz there is so much more I know I could do! I'll probably post a ver. 2 as soon as I get my thoughts properly organized. Please don't judge this piece & give up on me... please! T_T

One thing I hate about ff.net is the paragraphing. It totally screwed up the original format. So for easy reading, I put a '~' to indicate the next paragraph, '~~~' to signify a change of location (or something equally major). Other than that, you'll probably see a lot of spaces in between. Any questions? No? Good! My turn for questions…

Were my characters OOC? Is my layout bugging you? Is the slash part too short or sudden? Tell me what you think of this fic okay?? I desperately need feedbacks! Flames wouldn't hurt either. Everyone needs some negative criticism in small doses, spread over a long period of time.

^_~

PS. Kuroi Neko-kun, I put you in for a cameo. Liked it? *_*


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